Drum.



M. J. 0CONNOR..

DRUM.

APPLICATION FILED APR. I9. 1915.

1,245,207. Patented 00t.16,1917.

MICHAEL J. OCONNOR, OF BISMARCK, NORTH DAKOTA.

DRUM.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 16, 1917.

Application filed April 19, 1915. Serial No. 22,433.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, MICHAEL J. OCONNOR, a citizen of the United States, residing at Bismarck, in the county of Burleigh and State of North Dakota, have invented cer tain new and useful Improvements in Drums, of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings.

This invention relates to drums and more particularly to an improved form and construction of the drum head, the invention having for its primary object to provide an improved head for bass drums which will produce a deep, heavy and lasting tone.

My invention has for an additional object to provide a one-piece integral construction of the drum head and rim or band whereby the head may be easily and quickly fitted and secured upon the end of the body wall of the drum.

It is an additional object of the present invention to provide a convex head for bass drums which will greatly add to the tone quailties of the drum, without materially enhancing the manufacturing or selling price of the same.

With the above and other objects in View, my invention consists in the novel features of construction, combination, and arrangement of parts to be hereinafter more fully described, claimed, and illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which,

Figure 1 is a perspective View of a bass }drum provided with my improved convex ead;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged vertical section thereof; and

Fig. 3 is an inner face view of the drum head.

Referring in detail to the drawing, 5 designates the cylindrical body of the drum, and 6 the ordinary skin head which is engaged upon one end of the drum body, said head having an annular rim or band 7 To the other end of the drum body, my improved head is adapted to be applied. This drum head is constructed from a circular concavo-convex sheet of material, indicated at 8, preferably of wood or metal. At its perimeter, this circular body of the drum head is provided with a laterally disposed outwardly extending circumscribing band or rim 9, and at the juncture of said rim with the convex drum head, an annular groove or seat, indicated atlO, is preferably, though not necessarily, formed to receive the end edge of the drum body 5. After the heads have been arranged upon the opposite ends of the drum body, they are tightly secured in position thereon by means of a series of clamping devices indicated at 11, which may be of any ordinary or approved type.

By the provision of a convex drum head of the construction above described, when the skin head of the drum is struck with the heater, in the usual manner, the air vibrations within the body of the drum, striking against the concave inner face of the head wall 8, results in a deep, heavy tone which is greatly prolonged beyond that obtained in the use of the ordinary bass drum. The drum heads may, of course, be manufactured in various sizes so that they can be readily applied to different sizes of drum bodies, and while I have above referred to a particular construction of the outer edge of the drum head, whereby the same may be engaged upon the body wall, it is to be understood that the present invention is not limited to such construction, as various other means of attachment of the drum head to the drum body might be employed. It will be apparent that, in View of the extreme simplicity of the invention, the improved drum heads can be produced at comparatively small manufacturing cost and will not add materially to the selling cost of the completed drum. I have determined, by re peated tests, that the convex drum head greatly adds to the richness of tone of the instrument and its tone carrying qualities. It is also manifest that the drum heads might be manufactured with varying degrees of convexity, in accordance with the particular tones it is desired that the instrument shall produce. I do not, therefore, desire to be restricted, in the practical development of my invention, to the precise form, construction and arrangement of the details as illustrated in the accompanying drawing, but reserve the privilege of resorting to all such legitimate changes as may be fairly embodied within the spirit and scope of the appended claim.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I desire to claim and secure by Letters Patent is As an improved article of manufacture, a

ately contiguous thereto with an annular groove to receive one end of the drum body. 10 I In testimony whereof I hereunto affix my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

MICHAEL J. OCONNOR.

detachable sounding head for drums constructed from a single metal sheet having its outer edge bent to provide an integral annular flange thereon extending in parallel relation to the axis of the head for engagement by clamping means on a drum body, \Vitnesses: I said metal drum head being further pro- W. E. SELLENS, 7 vided inwardly of the flange and immedi- F. S. HENRY.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for fLVB cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

' Washington, .D. C. 

